Management of Osteoarthritis Pain

A special issue of Journal of Personalized Medicine (ISSN 2075-4426). This special issue belongs to the section "Methodology, Drug and Device Discovery".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 October 2024 | Viewed by 7515

Special Issue Editor


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Investiga Tive, LLC, 15 Chapin Trail, White Lake, New York, NY 12786, USA
Interests: anaesthetics; neuroscience

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues, 

Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common joint disorder with more than 500 million people (7% of the global population) being affected by the disease worldwide. The global prevalence of OA is growing, having more than doubled in the past three decades.

Pain is the predominant symptom of OA and is what usually leads those with OA to seek medical care. The pain in OA is typically exacerbated by joint use and relieved by rest. In the early stages of disease, symptoms including pain are often intermittent, becoming more frequent and severe as the disease progresses. However, there is a poor correlation between the OA-related radiographic changes that are seen on plain X-ray and the symptoms of pain experienced by those with OA.

OA pain is a leading cause of disability in older adults and is one of the leading causes of mobility impairment in the elderly population. It also accounts for substantial direct healthcare costs related to the requirement for joint replacement surgery in those with end-stage disease.

Despite its considerable personal, economic, and societal toll, osteoarthritis is generally neglected. Patients with OA report that their concerns and discomfort are downplayed by health practitioners as just a normal part of the aging process. 

The discovery and development of novel treatments for osteoarthritis have not made comparable progress with those of many other musculoskeletal and chronic non-communicable diseases. Therefore, to date, there are no drugs available for the definitive treatment of OA. Most therapies are palliative in nature, alleviating symptoms rather than modifying or curing the underlying disease.

Recent OA research has improved our understanding of the pathophysiology of the disease. Specifically, the identification of the TGF-β and Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathways has provided hope for the discovery of a disease-modifying osteoarthritis drug. In recent years, several novel agents have emerged as potential treatment alternatives to improve pain, stiffness, and function with the possibility of altering the disease progression.

This Special Issue will focus on the current and future management of OA pain. The factors dictating the onset and progression of the disease will be reviewed, as will the current clinically approved methods for its treatment and diagnosis. We will also present research that elaborates on the current challenges and opportunities for the development and application of novel potentially disease-modifying medicines for the treatment of OA pain.

Dr. Leslie A. Tive
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Journal of Personalized Medicine is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • osteoarthritis pain
  • inflammation
  • symptoms
  • pathogenesis
  • articular cartilage
  • subchondral bone
  • diagnosis
  • approved treatments
  • future treatments
  • regenerative therapy
  • mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs)
  • IL-1 receptor antagonists
  • MMP-13 inhibition
  • TGF-β
  • Wnt/β-catenin signaling
  • ADAMTS-5 inhibition

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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12 pages, 3305 KiB  
Article
A Gel-Based Proteomic Analysis Reveals Synovial α-Enolase and Fibrinogen β-Chain Dysregulation in Knee Osteoarthritis: A Controlled Trial
by Maria Teresa Rocchetti, Davide Bizzoca, Lorenzo Moretti, Enrico Ragni, Francesco Luca Moretti, Giovanni Vicenti, Giuseppe Solarino, Alessandro Rizzello, Vittoria Petruzzella, Luigi Leonardo Palese, Salvatore Scacco, Giuseppe Banfi, Biagio Moretti and Antonio Gnoni
J. Pers. Med. 2023, 13(6), 916; https://doi.org/10.3390/jpm13060916 - 30 May 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2180
Abstract
Background: The identification of synovial fluid (SF) biomarkers that could anticipate the diagnosis of osteoarthritis (OA) is gaining increasing importance in orthopaedic clinical practice. This controlled trial aims to assess the differences between the SF proteome of patients affected by severe OA undergoing [...] Read more.
Background: The identification of synovial fluid (SF) biomarkers that could anticipate the diagnosis of osteoarthritis (OA) is gaining increasing importance in orthopaedic clinical practice. This controlled trial aims to assess the differences between the SF proteome of patients affected by severe OA undergoing Total Knee Replacement (TKR) compared to control subjects (i.e., subjects younger than 35, undergoing knee arthroscopy for acute meniscus injury). Methods: The synovial samples were collected from patients with Kellgren Lawrence grade 3 and 4 knee osteoarthritis undergoing THR (study group) and young patients with meniscal tears and no OA signs undergoing arthroscopic surgery (control group). The samples were processed and analyzed following the protocol defined in our previous study. All of the patients underwent clinical evaluation using the International Knee Documentation Committee (IKDC) subjective knee evaluation (main outcome), Knee Society Clinical Rating System (KSS), Knee injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS), and Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) for pain. The drugs’ assumptions and comorbidities were recorded. All patients underwent preoperative serial blood tests, including complete blood count and C-Reactive Protein (CRP). Results: The synovial samples’ analysis showed a significantly different fibrinogen beta chain (FBG) and alpha-enolase 1 (ENO1) concentration in OA compared to the control samples. A significant correlation between clinical scores, FBG, and ENO1 concentration was observed in osteoarthritic patients. Conclusions: Synovial fluid FBG and ENO1 concentrations are significantly different in patients affected by knee OA compared with non-OA subjects. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Management of Osteoarthritis Pain)
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Review

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19 pages, 1517 KiB  
Review
Assessment of Pain in Osteoarthritis of the Knee
by Aricia Jieqi Thirumaran, Leticia Alle Deveza, Inoshi Atukorala and David J. Hunter
J. Pers. Med. 2023, 13(7), 1139; https://doi.org/10.3390/jpm13071139 - 14 Jul 2023
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 3471
Abstract
Knee osteoarthritis (KOA) pain is a subjective and personal experience, making it challenging to characterise patients’ experiences and assess their pain. In addition, there is no global standard for the assessment of pain in KOA. Therefore, this article examines the possible methods of [...] Read more.
Knee osteoarthritis (KOA) pain is a subjective and personal experience, making it challenging to characterise patients’ experiences and assess their pain. In addition, there is no global standard for the assessment of pain in KOA. Therefore, this article examines the possible methods of assessing and characterising pain in patients with KOA using clinical symptoms, pain assessment tools, and imaging. We examine the current methods of assessment of pain in KOA and their application in clinical practice and clinical trials. Furthermore, we explore the possibility of creating individualised pain management plans to focus on different pain characteristics. With better evaluation and standardisation of pain assessment in these patients, it is hoped that patients would benefit from improved quality of life. At the same time, improvement in pain assessment would enable better data collection regarding symptom response in clinical trials for the treatment of osteoarthritis. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Management of Osteoarthritis Pain)
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Other

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15 pages, 450 KiB  
Systematic Review
Is Radiofrequency Ablation Superior to Intra-Articular Injections for the Treatment of Symptomatic Knee Osteoarthritis?—A Systematic Review
by Byron Chalidis, Pericles Papadopoulos, Panagiotis Givissis and Charalampos Pitsilos
J. Pers. Med. 2023, 13(8), 1227; https://doi.org/10.3390/jpm13081227 - 3 Aug 2023
Viewed by 1418
Abstract
The radiofrequency ablation (RFA) is considered a valid, minimally invasive treatment modality for the management of symptomatic knee osteoarthritis (OA). The aim of this study was to compare the outcomes of RFA with that of commonly used intra-articular injections for the persistent knee [...] Read more.
The radiofrequency ablation (RFA) is considered a valid, minimally invasive treatment modality for the management of symptomatic knee osteoarthritis (OA). The aim of this study was to compare the outcomes of RFA with that of commonly used intra-articular injections for the persistent knee pain due to OA. Medline/Pubmed and Scopus databases were systematically searched up to April 2023 to identify studies comparing the effect of RFA and intra-articular injections (IAIs) on knee OA. Nine studies including 899 patients fulfilled the eligibility criteria and were included in the systematic review. The RFA procedure was related with improved knee pain relief compared to IAIs at 3-, 6- and 12-month follow-up (p < 0.001). Similarly, functional improvement was greater in RFA treatment than that observed after hyaluronic acid (HA), steroid or platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injections (Visual Analogue Scale p < 0.001, Numeric Rating Scale p = 0.019, Western Ontario and McMaster University Osteoarthritis Index p = 0.012). The overall procedural complication rate of RFA was 10.2% and was higher than steroid (p = 0.023) and PRP (p = 0.017) injections. However, no severe adverse events were reported. For patients with symptomatic knee OA, RFA seems to be more effective than IAIs in alleviating pain and improving joint function, despite the relatively higher incidence of non-serious adverse events. However, due to the limited number of studies and patients, this result should be interpreted with caution and not be generalized to the entire knee OA population. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Management of Osteoarthritis Pain)
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